2006 Atlanta Braves Replay Assn

[motnahp]

[>:]What was that again? About 5 hrs per night is enough. I have a job where I work weekends and have two days off during the week, so I get a lot of PS time during the week, but not so much on the weekends.

I'm not sure how dedicated I'll be if/when the Braves fall double digit games behind the Mets. They just don't have enough arms to compete. Not only that, but a month into the season sees Chipper Jones and Brian McCann both around .200 and with one home run between them!

[motnahp]

John Thomson allowed only 1 run in 7 innings and the Braves pounded Dontrelle Willis, beating the Marlins 8-2 in the opening game of a three-game series in Florida. The Braves got a fistful of runs in the first off Willis, taking a 5-0 lead. Thomson was brilliant, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 12. Thomson also collected 2 of the Braves' 14 hits and had 2 RBI.

TUE MAY 9

ATL_____8___14___0
FLA_____2____8___1

[motnahp]

John Smoltz, Ken Ray, and Chris Reitsma combined to shut out the Marlins on 5 hits as the Braves won 3-0. Chipper Jones is beginning to heat up. Chipper went 2-for-2, including a 2-run homer. He also drew 3 walks.

WED MAY 10

ATL_____3___9___0
FLA_____0___5___0

[motnahp]

Adam LaRoche homered twice and drove in 5 runs as the Braves swept the Marlins 12-4. Jeff Francoeur went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI. Florida starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco took a 2-0 lead into the 4th inning, when the Braves erupted for 10 runs. LaRoche's first homer chased Nolasco, who was charged with 9 runs. Francoeur then greeted reliever Randy Messenger with a solo shot for the 10th run of the inning. Tim Hudson struggled early, but pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs.

The Braves are back above .500 at 18-17 as they head home to face the Nationals in a 3-game series.

THUR MAY 11

ATL_____12___13___0
FLA______4____9___1

[motnahp]

The Braves continued to use the big inning, scoring 6 runs in the second inning on the way to a 6-3 win over Washington, their 4th win in a row. In the 2nd, Brian McCann, who entered the game with no homers and only 3 RBI on the season, cleared the bases with a triple. Later in the inning, Marcus Giles smacked a two-run homer. Starter Jorge Sosa allowed 3 runs in 6 innings. The bullpen combo of Paronto, Ray, and Reitsma shut the door.

FRI MAY 12

WAS_____3___5___0
ATL______6___9___1

[motnahp]

Atlanta won their fifth straight, edging Washington 4-3. Oscar Villarreal, vying to become the 5th starter, went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs. He left after surrendering a lead-off single in the 6th, with the Braves leading 2-1. Mike Remlinger allowed the inherited runner to score, plus another, as the Nats took a 3-2 lead. The Braves rallied for two of their own in the 6th, as Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche delivered RBI hits. Macay McBride pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th. Chris Reitsma earned his 10th save in 11 chances in the 9th.

The Braves upped their record on the season to 20-17. They go for the sweep with John Thomson (3-2, 4.19) taking the mound. Zach Day (0-1, 5.40) goes to the hill for Washington.

SAT MAY 13

WAS_____3___7___0
ATL______4__14___0

[motnahp]

Chipper Jones came off the bench and hit a grand slam off former teammate Mike Stanton and the Braves won their 6th straight, 6-3 over the Nationals. The Nats took a brief lead in the top of the 6th on Alfonso Soriano's solo homer. Andruw Jones gave the Braves the lead with a two-run homer in their half of the 6th. With the bases loaded and Stanton on the mound, manager motnahp sent Chipper to the plate to pinch-hit for catcher Brian McCann. Chipper came through with the slam. Chris Reitsma pitched the 9th and earned another save. Florida comes into town tomorrow for the first of a 4-game series. John Smoltz takes the mound for Atlanta. Smoltz is 5-3 with a 2.20 ERA on the season.

SUN MAY 14

WAS_____3___8___0
ATL______6___8___0

[motnahp]

Josh Willingham's solo homer in the top of the 10th was the game's lone run as the Marlins snapped the Braves' six-game winning streak, 1-0. The game's starting pitchers were brilliant. Scott Olsen of Florida went 7 innings, allowing only 2 hits. He struck out 11 and did not walk a batter. Atlanta's John Smoltz was equally impressive. He went 8 innings, allowing only 3 hits. He struck out 8 and walked no one.

MON MAY 15

FLA_____1___5___0
ATL_____0___3___2

[motnahp]

The Braves dropped another one-run decision in 10 innings, as the Marlins came out on top 6-5. Chris Reitsma blew his second save, allowing Florida to tie the score at 5-5 in the 9th. In the top of the 10th, Josh Willingham drove in the eventual game-winner with an infield single.

For the Braves, Brian McCann hit his first home run of the season, as part of a 4-for-5 day at the plate.

TUE MAY 16

FLA_____6___16___0
ATL_____5___16___0

[motnahp]

Jorge Sosa and Lance Cormier combined to shut out the Marlins 3-0. Sosa went 7 strong innings, allowing only 3 hits. Brian McCann went 2-for3, raising his average to .261.

WED MAY 17

FLA_____0___5___0
ATL_____3___9___0

[motnahp]

The Florida Marlins took 3 of 4 from the Braves, winning another 10-inning affair, 5-2. Dan Uggla's grand slam off Chris Reitsma in the top of the 10th broke a 1-1 tie. Brian McCann's solo homer in the bottom of the 10th accounted for the final run.

THUR MAY 18

FLA_____5___9___0
ATL_____2___9___0

[motnahp]

Standings as of May 18th:

[motnahp]

.......continued

[motnahp]

Now running with the 1.65 Beta. Had some fun with the speech engine. I was disappointed to see that the default was, for example, "John Smoltz Zero Six". I was required to go into every player and remove the "Zero Six". I decided to go ahead and listen to every player's name and adjust accordingly.

I ended up doing every NL team and also did the AL teams the Braves will play in 2006. I had a blast with trying to get the names to sound real. One memorable example is Braves' pitcher "Whore ah cio Ramirez".

The first game with 1.65 Beta and the offense took a nap. Luckily, Arizona's offense followed suit. The Braves defeated the D-backs 3-0 in 13 innings. Atlanta starter John Thomson recorded 9 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit, walking 2 and striking out 5.

The Braves won the game in the top of the 13th, collecting a sacrifice fly from Todd Pratt and a two-RBI double from Marcus Giles. "Chad Purronto" picked up the win and "Chris Rietzma" got the save.

FRI MAY 19

ATL_____3___5___0
ARIZ____0___3___0

[motnahp]

Tony Clark's 3-run homer off John Smoltz gave the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead. Former Brave Johnny Estrada added a solo homer, his first of the season, as Arizona topped Atlanta 6-3.

SAT MAY 20

ATL____3____12___1
ARIZ___6_____6___0

[motnahp]

Luis Gonzalez hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 2-0 win over the Braves.

SUN MAY 22

ATL_____0___0___0
ARIZ____2___0___0

[motnahp]

The Braves dropped their third straight game, losing in 14 innings at San Diego, 3-2. Eric Young drove in Mike Piazza for the game-winner.

The Braves' bullpen is pitching well, but is getting abused with all of the recent extra-inning games.

MON MAY 22

ATL_____2___11___1
SD_____3___13___0

[motnahp]

Manager motnahp shuffled the pitching a little, but to no avail. Oscar Villarreal, the 5th starter was bypassed and John Thomson took the mound on 3 days' rest. I considered Villarreal unlikely to give more than 6 innings and he was needed in the pen.

After going 9 scoreless last time out, Thomson was brutal. He loaded the bases in each of the first three innings, and was fortunate to leave with the game tied 2-2 with no outs and the bases loaded in the 3rd. Villarreal came on and gave 4 innings, leaving with the Braves down 4-3. Ken Ray pitched a couple scoreless innings and the Braves still trailed 4-3 and faced Trevor Hoffman in the 9th. A Marcus Giles 2-out single drove in the tying run. Could it be extra innings AGAIN ???

Closer Chris Reistma provided six scoreless innings, but Mike Remlinger couldn't hold the Padres off the board, as the Pads won in 15 innings, 5-4. Seven of the last nine game have gone extra innings, including consecutive games of 13, 14, and 15 innings!!! Enough is enough!!! Smoltz will start on three days' rest in the next game. I hope he goes at least seven. It may be one of those "take one for the team" games if Smoltz struggles early. If the game is tied going into the bottom of the 9th, I may just call for 4 intentional walks!!!

TUE MAY 23

ATL_____4___14___0
SD_____5___18___0

[motnahp]

John Smoltz was just what the doctored ordered, as he blanked the Padres for 7 1/3 innings and the Braves climbed back to .500 (24-24) with a 2-0 win. Jeff Francoeur provided the game's only offense with his 2nd inning two-run homer off Chris Young. In this game, Tim Hudson made the first relief appearance of his major league career, picking up the save with a scoreless 9th.

After an off-day, the Braves conclude the road trip with a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley.

WED MAY 24

ATL_____2___4___1
SD_____0___6___0

[Frozen Stiffer]

ORIGINAL: motnahp

The Florida Marlins took 3 of 4 from the Braves, winning another 10-inning affair, 5-2. Dan Uggla's grand slam off Chris Reitsma in the top of the 10th broke a 1-1 tie. Brian McCann's solo homer in the bottom of the 10th accounted for the final run.

THUR MAY 18

FLA_____5___9___0
ATL_____2___9___0

Weeeee!!!! 3-of-4!!!!